WATERVILLE, Maine -- Playing in its first NESCAC game since March 7, 2020, the Bates women's lacrosse team played No. 8 nationally ranked Colby through a close first half before the host Mules pulled away for an 18-5 victory on Sunday.

Senior captain Summer Dias (Newton, Mass.) led the Bobcats (1-1, 0-1 NESCAC) with two goals and one assist, to go with five draw controls.

Bates trailed Colby (2-1, 1-1 NESCAC) by a 4-1 score halfway through the first half, but junior Jordyn Tveter (Topsfield, Mass.) began a 3-1 Bates run when she scored off of her own draw control with 16:24 left. Tveter led Bates with six draw controls.

Dias scored her second goal at the 13:37 mark, and senior captain Margaret Smith (Wilton, Conn.) tallied after an eight-minute scoreless stretch to close the deficit to 5-4 in Colby's favor with 5:18 remaining in the half.

The Mules responded with Gianna Bruno feeding Robyn Pirie for a goal, then Grace Toner's tally with two seconds left in the half gave Colby added breathing room, with a 7-4 lead at the half.

Colby poured it on in the second half. Annie Eddy and Jillian Mazzocca scored in the opening minutes of the period. Dias won the next draw and fed senior captain Kathryn Grennon (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) for what would be Bates' final score, narrowing the gap to 9-5 with 25:30 remaining in the game. Colby returned the favor as Grace Langmuir scored right after the ensuing draw, and the Mules finished out the game with nine unanswered goals.

Eddy scored five times for Colby, while Bruno added three goals and four assists. Langmuir and Toner also tallied three goals apiece.

Sophomore Cammie Lavoie (Epping, N.H.) was credited with 12 saves in goal for Bates, while Hannah Marino made nine saves for Colby, as the Mules outshot the Bobcats by a 40-23 margin.

Bates returns to action on Saturday, April 24 at Tufts, with a 2pm start. The Bobcats will then host Connecticut College the following day, April 25 at 2pm.